The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-22
IN A GERMAN CAFE.
One Resort in New York That Is En-
tirely Foreign.

tirely Foreign.
New YORK, Aug. 90 was walking up
Second avenue from. Houston street the
other day when noticed number of men
seated at open windows in one of the old
time aristocratic houses near Tenth street.
Some were reading, some were playing chess
ane a few were dreamily putting at cigars
and watching the rings of blue smoke as
they fioated over their heads
From their appearance they We're all Ger
mans, which was not at all strange, this
being now a German neighborhood. Over
the main entrance to the house was a small
neat sign, bearing the single word, cafe.
entered.
The place was peculiar one. 1t was dl.
vided into three rooms and had also large
veranda in the rear. % The front room,
which was also the largest, contained many
small, round, hardwood tables, at which
sat the persons | had seen from the street
and many others. Nearly all were drinking
strong coffee On shelves extending around
the walls were all sorts and kinds of Ger
man illustrated papers, newspapers, funny
journals, standard German books and some
rare and curious German volumes. Per-
hapS thirty men were in the room,
although it was early in the afternoon, when
most people are at work.
Generally Germans are very voluble
NnCI Ulty arc iOHtbliti. bub ntIb UOU u
sound was TO be heard, except the rustlng
of the papers and an occasional ejaculation
from one of the chess players. The latter
were deeply in their games and entirely OBJ
livious to aught else but their cigars. Their
brows were knit INTO severe frowns and
their bodies We're bent forward. An air of
extreme restfulness pervaded the place and
made one feel at home, despite the foreign
characteristics of the men, All seemed to
lnnxsr aonb otbaf hit &c hxyo
all conversation was confined to a few words
of recognition.
In tho spacious hall a similar scene was to
be found. In one of the inner rooms were
two billiard tables, which were covered, and
looked neglected. In the third room was a
counter with two showcases, one containing
cigars and Turkish cigarettes and the other
filled with samples of German pastry. There
were large cakes, soft and delicious in APP
pearance, but not at all sweet; peculiar APP
pie, peach, cheese and prune cakes without
any upper crust, all very good, but very
different from American or French pastry.
On the veranda sat several persons ell
gagged in conversation, apparently apper-
tanning to business. It was queer scene in
the middle of busy day in busy New York,
and outside of similar summer resorts could
probably not be found anywhere else in the
city.
In no place, probably, can the everyday
life of the male part of our large German
population be studied to better advantage
than in the numerous German cafes which
range from the cheap resort on East Hous-
ton street to the swell and luxurious brown
stone affair on Fifty -seventh street. The
characteristics of the one differ but little
from the other The difference lies mainly
in the surroundings and the quality of the
furniture, decorations, etc
IL is an exact copy of its Berlin and Wen
nese prototype 1t is so entirely different
from anything American, or French, or
English that it seems out of place in c,
streets To a student DESTROYS of making
himself acquainted with real German Gus
toms and character, no place this side of the
Fatherland will prove SO useful as this cafe.
1t is also the only place where can be OBJ
tanned these examples of real German cook
ing which are SO satisfying and at the same
time SO delicious.
1t is very seldom, however, that any but
Germans enter these places, and it is more
seldom, in fact, that any of the walters, or
even the proprietor, can be made to under
stand anything but German.
The cafe is a great deal more to the Ger
man than merely restaurant. 1t is his
club, where he finds things as he remembers
them in the old country; where he can
throw aside his acquired American customs
and can forget everything except that he is
a German
Not that he always does this, for at night,
when the quiet scene | have described is
changed to one of mirth and enjoyment of
a more noisy kind, scraps of loud converse
ton can be heard, in which English words
are frequently jumbled in with strong
flow of German in an extremely ludicrous
manner.
When two German business men have
some particularly important transaction to
discuss, they will, if anywhere near cafe,
adjourn there to talk it over. Under the
influence Of coffee and cigars they soon
come to an amicable arrangement. From
early morning, when the bachelors come
there for their breakfast. until late at night,
when, dinner having been disposed of, chess,
billiards and merry talk are in order, the
cafe is continually filled. To some it is more
familiar than their homes.
Although liquors, beer and wines flow
freely, have never seen or heard of single
case of drunkenness in German cafe
During the late rigid enforcement of the
sumptuary laws the cafes were the only
places that were left entirely unscathed by
the police. To an American an experience
of single day in one Of these cafes is like
a days sojourn In the Fatherland.
CHARLES j. RosEBAULT.
I'LL